Question 1
Female infanticide is one of the oldest practice in China. This practice is streamlined towards family planning in society. Female infanticide refers to the abandonment and killing of baby girls. This traditional practice is believed to have spanned for more than 2000 years. In fact, the practice is dated from Chinese antiquity (Mungello, 2008). The practice is traced to the abandonment of children during Zhou dynasty. The main causes of female infanticide in China are both cultural and material. Female infanticide was carried out through burying alive, poisoning, drowning, suffocation, stabbing, and strangulation. The practice started in China because of several reasons. It was practiced to eliminate deformed children who could cause misfortune. The primary reasons were cultural and economic. Severe poverty led to the practice because it reduced the population in China. The practice increased bad times and decreased during good times. Also, it was practiced because of the high cost of dowries. Infanticide was practiced in most parts of China (Mungello, 2008). In fact, in the 19th century, most of the eighteen provinces in China practiced female infanticide. The issue is that the level at which female infanticide varied from one province to another. Since 1989, pressure emerged from United Nation Conference to end the practice. The government revised the law in 1999, and the practice was replaced by the one-child policy.
Question 2
Heian and Kamakura Women writings have various ideas that are related to family, love, marriage and adultery. Based on the writing I believe the women are justified in their view of marriage and adultery. This is because the issue of sexual relates and women bodies was attached to economic and political interests. This means that women were taken to be at the lower ranks in society. The writer ideas tend to demonstrate how male had absolute powers in making decisions related to love and marriage. During the Medieval era, women were coerced to have sex, which could be defined as rape in the modern society (Hitomi, 2006). The writing also focuses on how politics was tied to issues of marriage. This is based on the fact that men focused on getting married to daughters of political leaders such as emperor. Despite the low importance asserted to women, women born from political families played a crucial role in the social hierarchy. The ideas of marriage and the importance of women is well stated in the writings. The relationships are demonstrated as scandalous. Also, the writings show that women love their husbands and only focus on their family. Also, women were dominated by patriarchal ideologies. Nun-hood and widowhood are some of the related issues during the Kamakura and Heian periods. During the time of Genji, there was no formal wedding or marriage (Arntzen). The marriage proposals were made through a letter, whereby men expressed what they liked in women.
Question 3
Comfort women referred to women who were mobilized to provide comfort to soldiers who were stationed in Pacific and Asian countries. Comfort women were girls and women who were forced into sexual slavery. Before and after World War II, the Japanese government mobilized many women to sever the sexual need of the soldiers (Min, 2003). The word learned about the comfort women in the 1990s when the surviving women began to give testimonies. This means that the women and the issue remained hidden or approximately 50 years. For example, in 1991, three Korean women went to court to sue Japanese government (Mitsutani, 2001). The women narrated the common experience that most comfort women went through. The women were not contracting workers as stated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. This is because of the issues that surrounded the situation. If the women were contract workers, then they could not have expressed their sorrows. Also, the minister provided a formal apology meaning that the women were not contracting workers (Park, 2010). The prime mister statement led to protests in Philippines Korea and China. The issues of compensation contradict the concept of contract workers and comfort women. The mobilization and use of force by Japanese government shows that the sexual services offered by Comfort women were not a contractual job. The women were forced to be comfort women, which makes the statement of prime minister irrelevant. The Japanese government focused on the apology and compensation as part of taking responsibility for the crimes committed on the Korean women. Despite the apology and compensation, the Japanese government has failed to take responsibility for the wrongdoing. Compensating someone who undergoes a lot of shame is not justified. The atrocities suffered by comfort women cannot be treated through compensation. Building patriotic memorial for this women seems to be justified. This is because it preserves the history of Korea and the world.
Question 4
The women in Japan were excluded to climb Mt. Fuji. This was a sacred mountain where the shrines and sanctuaries existed. Before 1872, women were excluded from visiting the sacred mountains. Mt. Fuji was believed to be a mysterious mountain that served as a pilgrimage site. Meiji government banned the exclusion of women in 1872. Mt. Fiji was opened to both sexes. It is worth noting that the moment that exclusion of women to Mt. Fuji began is unclear. There are various reasons why women were excluded from cling Mt. Fiji (Miyazaki, 2005). One of the reasons is male ascetics and streamlined towards Buddhism. Male and female were not supposed to meet in the mountains. Women were viewed as nothing more that accumulated dust. Also, women were excluded because it was believed that they would distract men during their pilgrimage.
References
Arntzen, S. The Heart of History. The Tale of Genji.
Hitomi, T. (2006). Sex in the Medieval Japanese Court: Lady Nij 's Memoir. Monumenta: Sophia University, 61(3), 283-338.
Min, P. (2003). Korean "Comfort Women": The Intersection of Colonial Power, Gender, and Class. Gender and Society, 17(6), 938-957.
Mitsutani, M. (2001). Fifty years of Silence-Three Taiwanese Women. Manoa: University of Hawaii Press, 13(1), 176-179
Miyazaki, F. (2005). Female Pilgrims and Mt. Fuji Changing Perspective on the Exclusion of Women. Monumenta Nipponica, 60(3), 339-391.
Mungello, D. (2008). Drowning Girls in China. Female Infanticide since 1950. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Mungello, D. (2008). Female Infanticide since 1950. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Park, Y. (2010). Compensation to Fit the Crime: Conceptualizing a Just Paradigm of Reparation for Korean "Comfort Women”. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 30(2), 204-213
